Average User Rating

The GoodSync in the 2011 Ford Explorer continues as the best voice command system in the business, and integrates well with cell phones and MP3 players. Sirius Travel Link brings in very useful traveling information, such as weather and gas prices.

The BadThe navigation system loses its GPS signal too easily, and the touch screen is too slow responding to inputs. The USB ports acted finicky when used for audio playback.

The Bottom LineThe new MyFord Touch cabin tech system in the 2011 Ford Explorer is surprisingly buggy, but otherwise this SUV offers plenty of room and easy onroad driving.

Electric cars and hybrids may hold the automotive limelight these days, but automakers have not given up on SUVs. Ford's venerable Explorer gets an update for the 2011 model year that completely redesigns the car from the ground up, making for a modern four-wheel-drive vehicle that justifies itself with a huge cargo area and third-row seating.

The 2011 Ford Explorer retains a trucklike front end, albeit with fewer harsh lines in the body work. Large side windows lead back to an angled C-pillar. The cargo area includes a third row of seats that can fold flat into the floor.

But underneath the Explorer is a very different vehicle from previous generations. Instead of a frame-based platform, the new Explorer uses independent suspension components front and rear. Instead of a V-8, the new Explorer currently comes with a 3.5-liter V-6, and Ford will add its new Ecoboost four cylinder at a later date.

Buggy nav

The 2011 Explorer also gets Ford's latest cabin electronics, although that fact is not unequivocally a good thing. Optional with the Ford Explorer XLT is the MyFord Touch cabin tech interface. This interface includes useful LCDs in the instrument cluster and a large touch screen on the center stack.

The right side display shows infotainment, such as the current track playing on satellite radio.

In the instrument cluster, the LCD to the left of the speedometer shows vehicle data, while the one on the right shows infotainment. Both are configurable with D pads on the steering wheel spokes, letting the driver, for instance, check fuel economy on the left and route guidance on the right. These displays work very well and provide useful information close to the driver's line of sight.

The central touch screen is where the problems begin. Divided into four main areas, audio, navigation, phone, and climate, this touch screen is too slow responding to input. Touch the tab for navigation, and the response is less than instantaneous, such that you might be finding yourself touching it again, thinking it didn't work the first time.

Part of the problem seems to be that Ford used a resistive touch screen instead of the capacitive style of touch screen commonly used on cell phones. A resistive touch screen has the advantage that it can be operated by a person wearing gloves, but it needs a stronger touch than the capacitive style. However, Ford could also use a faster CPU in the system, as some of the slow response seems to do with processing time.

The nav system lost its GPS signal in lightly wooded areas, and took a long time to get it back.

Another major problem with the Explorer is the navigation system. This flash-drive-based system offers some very good features, such as traffic and 3D displays, but it is more prone to losing track of the vehicle than others. While driving in a lightly wooded area, the system lost its GPS fix, showing the vehicle off in random areas of the map. Even after it regained its satellite signal, it took an unreasonably long time, measured in tens of minutes, to regain its position on the map. That performance is exceedingly subpar, and does not measure up to Ford's previous, hard-drive-based navigation system.

Through Sirius Travel Link, the Explorer brings in a lot of useful external data. There is a weather report, sports scores, gas prices at nearby stations, and movie times. The latter two integrate with the navigation system, letting you, for instance, make a gas station in the list of fuel prices the car's destination. This is all fine and good if the navigation system knows the correct location of the car.

One of the star features of the Explorer, seen in other Ford vehicles, is the Sync voice command system. This system has been refined for easier voice inputs, for example, letting you say an entire address string instead of city, street, then street number. Likewise, Sync integrates with the Bluetooth phone system, and allows making calls merely by saying a contact's name.

Although many cars now have dial-by-name for voice command, few can equal Sync's ability to understand band, album, and song names. This feature of Sync works for just about anything plugged into one of the Explorer's two USB ports, whether it be an iPod, Zune, or flash drive. Although this feature works surprisingly well, both USB ports failed during our testing of the Explorer. Although the main interface would show a song being played, audio was not playing through the speakers. The USB ports appeared to be rather finicky.

Sync does a great job indexing music from MP3 players and even USB flash drives.

Other audio sources included Sirius satellite radio, Bluetooth streaming audio, and HD radio. A nice feature of this stereo is its ability to show album art for devices plugged into the USB ports and channel icons for satellite radio stations.

Where to Buy

2011 Ford Explorer XLT

About The Author

Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET. Prior to the Car Tech beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine. He's also the author of "Vaporware," a novel that's available as a Nook e-book.